FrankReynoldsCPA

V8's are absolutely superior to a V6 in pretty much every measure, except for fuel economy.

Stroock639

luckily most people don't know this and old LS's are accordingly very cheap these days haha

an LS430 and an S430 is like the same thing to most people (i mean just add an L to the front of the mercedes lol) even though one of them might be equipped with an active suspension system that can literally cost upwards of 10 grand to fix when (not if) it starts to break

AJT123

Yep, and I'll gladly take the fuel economy penalty.

LS430 back then actually was a legitimate S-Class competitor. That model S class was overall weak, and that model LS was overall strong so it evened out nicely. There was nothing feature-wise you could get in an S class that you couldn't get in an LS other than a V12. And yes I hardly ever see W220s around anymore; very, very rarely. I see LS430s all over the place on the other hand. I saw 5 the other day just running errands within a few mile radius of my house lol.

MattyG

Gosh, so much dislike for Scotty Kilmer. Yeah, he's kind of like your grandma's pet ****zou yapping away at you because it doesn't know any other way of communicating at you. But Scotty's view of the world is about a mechanic talking about whether you should own a used luxury flagship vehicle, specificaly the LS430. Just 58 seconds of the video posted by the OP have people upset about what he says regarding the LS430. He is a Celica guy and he likes Toyo products. In this same video he recommends Camry over Fusion.

He will also tell you to stay away from the German 3. In fact, one of his videos is about a customer's MB CLS, which had two dozen fault codes on his scanner. The LS comes across much better in that light and maybe he should have answered the question that way.

You can browse the 3LS threads on this forum and you'll see how the LS has its numerous small but nickel/dime issues that will eventually force a decision about keeping vs selling. They are not perfect cars. What they are, is better cars than the Germans of that era from a reliabilty standpoint.

Re the W220 vs the LS430. That's not even a fair comparison. The 220 would run circles around the LS on just sheer handling ability via ABC, and cylinder deactivation from advanced features. You don't even want to talk about AMG versions.

The body style of the 3LS: every wondered why the LS 430 looks so "Germanic" in its body? Not a coincidence, it was planned that way. They didn't have anything to go on in the Japanese tradition. So they took the late 90s E class and mixed up some W140 cues into it. Still a great car with a fantastic drivetrain.

OTH, the W220 is absolutely a Bruno Sacco masterpiece marred by German "underengineering" of its components.

Stroock639

firstly i just wanna ask have you driven both of them? while the S600 is absolutely in a class above any toyota product in terms of autobahn crushing capability, and the effortless passing of other cars in what would seem to be an impossibly small gap, the standard S430 offers nothing that the LS can't already match if not exceed while still costing a decent amount more... and for over double the price of the LS i would hope the S600 would be able to deliver lol

also the active suspensions are great on the highway, but don't perform as well at slow speeds, and the ABC pretty much has a 100% failure rate and can cost literally over 10 grand to fix again... and once they leak the fluid gets contaminated so it's pretty much never the same again

and i'm fully aware of what site i'm saying this on, but i apologetically unapologetically will say that the LS is easily the worse looking car of the two, especially the 01-03 models... but oh well it still looks decent enough and your bank account will definitely look prettier from not owning the benz

MattyG

No. But I wasn't on the bridge of the Titanic on the night the navigator had a miscue and it ran into a North Atlantic iceberg. But history tells me that it happened. What's your point? I'm a fan of the 3UZE-FE since I had a GS430. You're not talking to somebody, who doesn't appreciate Lexus V8s here. And I know Benzes since several acquintances had them from decades ago, including a repair shop that had the gull wing. Let's not get personal shall we?

So you drive on the Autobahns often in an S430, S500 of this vintage then? Or in city driving regularly? Or is this some sort of question about a daily driver vs what Scotty Kilmer says? Isn't this thread about Kilmer's odd take on the LS? You don't even own an LS430.

So this is about reliability then?

They cribbed the styling from MB. It's ok. History moves on.

Stroock639

my point is you so confidently asserted that the S class could "run circles around" the LS and i'm here telling you that if you drove both cars you might not be saying that... and are you suggesting that knowing people who had a mercedes from decades ago would somehow be a direct indication of what the w220 is like?

i mean we really shouldn't even be having this convo since you haven't given yourself a basis for comparison and can only comment on hearsay, also i literally agree with about everything you said lol so idk where all this is coming from

and i have driven an LS430, S430, and S500 on the highway, and the w220 definitely doesn't "run circles around" my even older LS

Johnhav430

I know I'll never pull the trigger and replace all those little parts (which have huge price tags). I love several features that the car has--adaptive xenon--HID is gone today. Sorry, LED is not as good to me. I get it's a compromise, less energy, less production cost, no 25,000 volts, no 90 volts, but it looks so weak to me to see BMW 3 series with 4 lights lit on low beam, stylistically.

Other features...rain sense wipers (they do work for the most part), and auto dim rear and side views. My right pass mirror has the gel gone in the center so at night, the mirrors blacken and the center is still light. Driver side fine. I coulda got the OE glass for $186 less 20% on eBay, but just not worth it. The actual part is insane ($421 list) so I think it's like a $550 job at the dealer--it's those kinds of things that cause new car owners to dump the vehicles, and for people like Scotty to swoop in, offer repairs, and mention on his channel. He probably charges his customers $600 to fix things like that, and then he gets to tell his customer to get a Camry version instead!

Johnhav430

Ok so what was my point anyway since I am the OP....that there are plenty of vehicles to dissuade someone from purchasing used (how about a V10 BMW M5 even if it's dirt cheap), but the LS430 is an odd choice, given Lexus' history. I would have to say the biggest downer of a LS430 besides the handling, is the fuel economy. We're generally happy to average 19 mpg, or at least I am. A 2014 Camry would likely be doing 25 under the same conditions. I just had a Camry rental and it got 35 mpg on my trip overall (I actually hoped it could do even more, just as a testament to modern technology, not the fuel cost as I was reimbursed). With the LS430, it probably would have done 27 on the same conditions (my car can easily get 28 mpg highway, which is why I wonder why the EPA is 16/23), and on premium. These are real reasons not to get a LS430. But "run," "stay away!" exaggeration....

plex

iTrader: (11)

There are a lot of clickbait type titles on YouTube as the posters want more views meaning more money. I got into it with someone on a YT channel stating a gutted swapped SC is a better all around car than a MKIV Supra. It's the new age of social media I guess, mainstream media has been doing it forever so no surprise.

SW17LS

Lets not go that far lol. These are great cars, but they're quite old now and failures do happen.

As for the W220 S Class vs the LS, having driven them both new (and having had an LS430), the S Class was certainly the better handling car, but the LS was the better riding car.

Now, used its not even a comparison. The W200 S Class has a TON of incredibly expensive fail items and if you were buying a luxury car of that vintage to drive reliably today there would be no comparison.

situman

Well he almost always recommends a Toyota and Lexus product over competing models. He despises german and and most american car models. Does that that mean he is only paid by Toyota? When most of us recommend Toyota and Lexus products when someone asks for advice, does that mean we all get paid by Toyota and Lexus? To put things into perspective, the LS430 is about 10-15yrs old and repairs will be imminent. The point hes making is a 6cylinder is cheaper to repair than the V8, which is a valid point due to those engine's inherent designs. He's frugal and knows what it costs to repair cars so I wouldnt exactly trash him because he did a video about the LS430.

SW17LS

Having had multiple V6 Lexus vehicles and V8 Lexus vehicles, including a high mileage V6 and a high mileage V8, there's no reason why the V8 would be considerably more expensive to maintain. It has two more spark plugs, and holds more oil. Thats really it. In fact, the 3.0-3.3 liter V6 in that same era of Lexus has some issues with head gaskets, etc that the 1UZ/3UZ V8 does not have. That basic engine also has had slugging issues in the past

In short, the LS430 and that 3UZ V8 is pretty much the most reliable Lexus you can buy. To say "stay away from that one" is just terrible advice.

situman

He mentions the starter is buried inside the engine someone and if it fails, it will require disassembling parts of the engine to get to. Plus parts for the V8 are not as common as the V6 engines. The point is, as all cars age, it will require repairs and the more complex the engine, the more it will cost and I dont doubt that for a minute regardless of model and manufacturer. That said I much prefer the 4.6 in my GX over the 3.5s in my previous Lexiiiiis. Now if it only has another 50hp, I would be totally content.

Toys4RJill

Both true. Any widespread Toyota/Lexus V6 will be cheaper to fix than a more limited V8